COLUMN: Arizona shooting shows much greater attention must be paid to mental illness
Tragedies can bring out the best in people; unfortunately, they can also bring out the worst.
This was clearly evidenced in the aftermath of the shooting in Tucson, Ariz., where Jared Lee Loughner allegedly shot 20 people, including Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
Within hours of the shooting, both sides of the political spectrum had begun pointing fingers: conservatives blaming liberals and liberals blaming conservatives.
No, Republican Sarah Palin was not responsible for the shooting because she had placed Giffords on her “target list” of Democrats who voted for the health care bill. And no, the liberal website Daily Kos was not responsible because they placed Giffords on their 2010 primary “target list.”
Placing a target on Giffords did not lead Loughner to go on a shooting rampage. Instead, what we had here was an extremely troubled individual who should have been seeking psychiatric help.
His strange behavior started long before Giffords was placed on any target list. Police discovered that Loughner had written an assassination threat on a letter from Giffords in 2007. He had a history of writing disturbing posts on the Internet, including that college girls enjoyed being raped and that “the government is implying mind control and brainwash on the people by controlling grammar.”
Loughner had even been suspended from the college he was attending after the campus police had been called five different times. He was told that if he wanted to return, he would need a note from a doctor saying that he was not a threat.
But why was this revealed only after the shooting?
Just hours after the shooting, politicians and media personnel were already calling for new gun bans.
A gun ban does not address the issue here. Banning certain types of guns would not have stopped Loughner. Loughner should not have been allowed to purchase any type of gun — period.
Instead of simply sending a letter, school officials should have used the proper channels to assure that Loughner received the mental help he so desperately needed. Officials should have been notified, and he should have been placed on a list making him ineligible to purchase a firearm.
If school officials had done this instead of simply kicking him out and washing their hands of him, this tragedy might have been avoided.
We need to use this tragedy as a learning lesson, not an opportunity to score quick, cheap political points against people with opposing ideologies.
Politicians, instead of pointing fingers and blaming “the other guy,” work on legislation that helps those in need of mental help get the proper care.
Students, if you observe an individual saying things that are clearly signs of a disturbed individual, talk to the authorities.
School administrators, if you have a student who is mentally disturbed, don’t just tell him to get treatment and walk away, follow through to see that it’s done.
If we all take these steps, tragedies like this one can and will be avoided.
